


on the edge of forever

by internetakeover (nymeriahale)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Christmas, Christmas fic, M/M, Shower Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 14:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17163284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nymeriahale/pseuds/internetakeover
Summary: When Dan is reminded that his uni halls require him to completely move out over Christmas, there’s only one person he considers calling for help.





	on the edge of forever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [adequateduck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/adequateduck/gifts).



> Title from The Flood by Take That, which was in the charts over the period this is set.
> 
> This fic was written for [Fandom Trumps Hate](http://https://fandomtrumpshate.tumblr.com/), a wonderful fandom charity auction (which is running again this year!), and the lovely Duck! Massive thanks to Duck for being endlessly patient as I ran off to/got consumed by rugby fandom - I hope you like this!
> 
> Also, yes, this is a real system Manchester uni has (or possibly had) for some of their accommodation! I’ve thought of this fic every Christmas since learning this fact.

“Shit,” Dan curses, blinking his laptop screen back into focus. He rereads the sentence in front of him, then reads it once again for good measure. “Shit shit shit shit shit.” 

Dan reaches for his phone, stops himself when he unlocks it and it announces a time of 03:50. Part nocturnal as he is, even Phil probably won’t be awake at this hour. Dan is only up because he’s got this essay due in a little over 10 hours time. Said essay is _also_ the only reason why he’s reading his backlog of university emails, an inbox he otherwise hasn’t even opened since the start of term. 

Dan’s suddenly very glad for just how bad he’s let the procrastination get this particular evening. If it wasn’t for his procrastination, he might not have seen the email reminder about having to completely clear out halls over the Christmas holidays, might have completely forgotten and ended up with half his stuff chucked out. Then again, procrastination is probably also responsible for him being in this mess. If he hadn’t put off his choice of halls for so long he wouldn’t have had to resort to accommodation with such a massive downside, but at least procrastination has come through for him in the end.

Dan - well. He’d like to say he can’t believe he forgot about it. The fact is he’d seen the terms of halls online, noticed that he have to clear his stuff out over term time holidays, thought it would be a massive pain, and probably forgotten the information within about a week. Dan thinks part of the reason he forgot is probably due to knowing how close Phil lived, knowing he’d have someone local who could help him out. If he’d thought he would have to drag his things the hundred plus miles home on the train he probably would have remembered - so really, looking at it that way, it’s more Phil’s fault than his. 

If Dan had got as far as telling Phil, of course, he probably would have remembered - but Dan sees no reason to dwell on that. If he’d told his parents they probably would have remembered too, but they would not have been particularly impressed that he’d been reduced to choosing such accommodation when they may or may not have been under the impression that he’d sorted all of those kinds of things months before... Either way, at least he’s seen the email now, two weeks before it becomes a problem.

It’s probably the kind of issue that will be better dealt with on a few hours of sleep, Dan realises, thinking about it. The only real thing he can do to help is to call to Phil, really, Dan doesn’t think it will take much more than that. But that will definitely have to wait a few more hours, so he might as well sleep until them. The essay skeleton currently taunting Dan from another tab could surely only be helped by a bit of rest, too. If Dan sleeps for three hours he’ll still have seven hours to churn it all out, and once he’s got that nailed it’ll be time to call Phil - flawless planning, if Dan does say so himself. There’s something uneasy in the pit of Dan’s stomach as he closes out of his plan and settles himself into bed, but he ignores it and drops off to sleep quickly - he’s had plenty of practice at it by now, after all.

~~~

It takes two evenings for Dan to realise that he’s managed to forget, again, about his housing dilemma - and this time he really is surprised at himself. Not too surprised, given that he’d disabled his alarm in his sleep and woken up with only three hours to write 80% of a 5000 word essay, but still.

It’s nearly midnight when he remembers, jerking bolt upright from his comfortable slouch on Phil’s sofa, into Phil’s shoulder.

“Phil!” Dan exclaims, turning towards him.

“Dan!” Phil returns, immediately giving Dan the attention that had previously been focussed on his laptop.

“I have a... well. I guess it’s a _minor_ crisis,” Dan turns his voice coaxing. “But only if you don’t help me out, if you help me out it’s definitely not a crisis at all - and I know you’ll help me out.”

“Of course I will,” Phil agrees before Dan can even get the explanation out.

Dan beams at him. “You’re brilliant,” he tells Phil, because it’s true, and because he’ll never get tired of the way Phil smiles at him when he says it. “The thing is - you know my halls?”

“Uncomfortably well,” Phil replies, rubbing at his back in an exaggerated fashion - as though he’d slept there and suffered from the lumpy mattress for more than one night, the cheek of it! Dan suffered from it every week, at least!

“Well, one of the conditions of the rent is that we clear our stuff out entirely over Christmas and Easter - I think they rent the rooms out to tourists, the poor bastards - and I don’t _really_ want to lug my things all the way home on the train,” Dan explains leadingly.

“Yeah, you can bring it here,” Phil replies, not needing any more information. “What have you even got over there still? Half your clothes must be here anyway.”

“A bit more than that,” Dan admits sheepishly. He’d started off with just one drawer in Phil’s room, but it had rather spread since them. “But all my kitchen stuff, I think is the big thing. And bedding, and my books and notes,” he pulls a face. “It shouldn’t take up too much space, and it’s just for a couple of weeks - well. About a month, actually, until we can move back. I can take it all straight back afterwards, though,” Dan assures Phil, unsure why he’s playing it down quite so much when Phil has already agreed. But Dan doesn’t want to be a pain, or a burden - university is supposed to be about learning independence, Dan doesn’t want to impose on anyone else any more than he has to.

“I already said yes,” Phil points out. “I’m sure we’ll find somewhere for it - anything’s better than dragging all your things on the train.”

Dan grimaces in agreement. He might just be swapping from the safety net of his parents to Phil, but really, what teenager doesn’t have some kind of support built in? 

“Are you - are you going to go home at the end of term, then?” Phil asks, biting his lip.

Dan shakes his head automatically before he realises that his plan was to stay at Phil’s, and he should probably ask. “I was going to stay with you? If that’s okay,” he checks. “I was planning to come back pretty early after Christmas, too, revise somewhere a bit quieter but - only if it’s okay with you.” He’s spending most nights of the week at Phil’s as it is, but Phil knows he can always banish Dan back to his uni accommodation if he needs to, and Dan does try to go back there at least once or twice a week. This would be something different, something more.

“Of course!” Phil grins, knocking their shoulders together. “You’re always welcome, you know that.”

Dan grins, and leans in for a kiss. He does know that, but it’s still nice every time he’s reminded.

~~~

“Phil,” Dan calls through the front door, giving up on knocking with his elbow and resorting to his head.

“Coming!” echoes the faint reply.

Dan shifts in place, tightening his dubious grip on his armful of kitchen supplies.

“Did you forget your keys?” Phil asks, opening the door. “I didn’t see them - oh!” he exclaims, stepping away from the door as he registers Dan’s predicament.

“I thought I’d start bringing things over a bit at a time,” Dan explains, hurrying through to the kitchen and dropping his armful of utensils onto the counter before they can get away from him again. “But the bag broke halfway here.”

“Oh no,” Phil says, not trying particularly hard to hide the laughter in his voice. “How did you get in the building?”

“Some old lady held the door for me,” Dan tells him. 

“Isn’t that meant to go the other way around?” Phil replies, giving in to laughter when Dan has no rebuttal better than a glare.

“My head hurts,” Dan pouts, when Phil seems finished.

“Is that what you were knocking with?” Phil asks.

Dan nods, keeping the sad expression plastered on his face.

“Well then it’s no surprise, is it?” Phil asks, but he steps forwards to wrap Dan up in a warm hug.

Dan sighs happily, sinking into it, rubbing his cold nose into the warm crease at the base of Phil’s neck as Phil reaches up to stroke through his hair.

“Long day?” Phil asks, much more sympathetic than he’d started out.

“Yeah,” Dan sighs. Lectures had been as dull and impenetrable as usual, and the journey to Phil’s far more stressful than expected.

“It’s over now,” Phil tells him, dropping a kiss onto the top of Dan’s head. “You’re home safe.”

~~~

Dan brings his next load of things over the next day - in a suitcase, much more successfully. He manages to let himself into the flat this time, calling out to Phil as he does so.

Phil mutters a quiet, distracted hello from where he’s sat on the sofa editing, and Dan spies an opportunity. He lays his suitcase flat as quietly as he can, wincing at every rattle, and digs inside for the utensil he wants. Colander safely, quietly in hand and held out of Phil’s view, Dan creeps forwards as stealthily as he can.

“Look what I brought!” Dan exclaims, when he’s in range, promptly dropping the colander on Phil’s head.

Phil squawks in surprise, reeling back into the sofa cushions. “What is it?” he asks, laughing, batting it off his head.

“A colander!” Dan announces, picking it up and perching it on his own head. “So now you can finally drain pasta properly! And -” Dan returns to the suitcase and pulls out his wok from the very bottom, ignoring the way everything else spills loudly onto the floor “- for proper stir fries!” he announces, turning around to brandish the wok at Phil. “No more awkward two frying pans!”

Phil grins at Dan, mirroring his excitement back at him. “Perfect!” he exclaims. “Just what this flat needs.”

“What, my stuff?” Dan asks, joking.

“Yep,” Phil nods his head decisively. “That’s what it’s been lacking all along, more of your things.”

Dan laughs. His one drawer in Phil’s room had spread rather rapidly, he’s not sure it’s really something Phil wants to begin in his kitchen cupboards too. “Are you sure about that?” he asks. “It’ll be half my flat at this rate.”

“That’s fine by me,” Phil replies absently, starting to pick up and put away the pots Dan had scattered across the floor when he pulled out the wok.

“Yeah?” Dan tests, feeling his smile grow. “I was going to bring over more clothes next,” he tests, knowing Phil had complained - in good spirits - about Dan taking over more and more of his room.

“Okay,” Phil agrees. “I cleared out a bit of space in the wardrobe for you, I hope it’s enough - I didn’t know how much more you had to bring.”

“Not much,” Dan admits - as Phil had previously observed, more than half of his clothes have already made their way into Phil’s drawers. It’s just easier, when Dan is waking up there about five days out of seven. “So - that’s it?” he asks, when Phil doesn’t say anything more. It’s not that he minds Phil’s lack of objection, his casual acceptance - far from it. He just wants to make sure it will hold, that’s all.

“What?” Phil asks, looking up from the cupboards. 

“No complaints about me taking up half of your room, just - you’ve cleared out some space?”

“Well, yeah,” Phil blinks at Dan. “It might only be a month, but - you’re going to be living here, properly. Of course you should have half the space.”

Dan cocks his head. “But it’s your flat,” he points out.

Phil approaches Dan, takes a hold of his hips. “And you’re always welcome,” he says, for far from the first time. “This is - I guess a trial, in a way. For next year, when it really will be our flat. So we should do it properly, now.”

“Yeah,” Dan agrees, ducking his head to shield his smile. “I guess it is.”

He hadn’t thought about it like that yet, not really. He’d been thinking of it as crashing at Phil’s, like he has all term, just for a bit longer. As at home as Dan feels at Phil’s, and as much as he knows that he’s welcome any time, and indeed does regularly come over without an invitation, he’s tried to never forget that this is, technically, Phil’s flat.

Dan had been delighted at the prospect of getting his own space when he moved to uni, and as much as he knows that Phil has already done all that, that his own space isn’t as much of a novelty to him, he also knows that moving to Manchester had still been a big thing for Phil. It had been something he wanted to do enough to ask his parents to support him in it, so while Dan knows that isn’t as big a thing for Phil as it is for him, that still says something. Dan hadn’t wanted to totally overstep his boundaries in the first place that was fully _Phil’s_. 

Sure, _Dan_ hasn’t grown that much of an attachment to his own uni place, but his place is even smaller than Phil’s, with a kitchen that’s not entirely his own, and loud flatmates. Having your own place is different, and while Dan has readily, greedily, taken up all the space Phil grants him, he has always tried to remember that this is Phil’s place, not his. But now - now Phil is actively encouraging him to think of it as his too, to step over about the only boundary left between them at this point. Dan hopes Phil knows what he’s getting in to, but - he’s pretty sure he does, if the way he’s grinning at Dan is anything to go by.

“I’ll take that wok as rent,” Phil jokes.

Dan looks back up at Phil. “You’ll never get rid of me that way!”

“I know,” Phil grins. “That’s the plan.”

Dan grins back, stupidly huge, feeling something building inside of him, between them. It fades when Phil pokes him in the dimple, but it’s still there, a layer under their laughter. 

It’s the feeling that this - this is it, this means something, it's a sense of significance and surety. Dan's had this feeling before - the day they met, their first full week together, and a million more times besides. It’s a sensation that’s only growing every time, settling and spreading inside of him until Dan can’t imagine himself without it.

~~~

Dan is firmly ensconced in not-looking at his uni notes when he hears a thump against the front door, followed by a plaintive ‘ow’.

“Phil?” he calls, getting up.

“I’m fine!” Phil replies, pushing the door open. “Just forgot where my foot was!”

“Nothing major, then,” Dan rolls his eyes, turning back to his seat as he’s convinced Phil’s not going to lose any limbs this time.

“Worth it though,” Phil says, sounding out of breath as he finally staggers into the lounge.

“What’ve you got there?” Dan asks, pushing himself back up to see what trouble Phil’s brought home in the massive box he’s carrying.

“A tree!” Phil grins, eyes sparkling. “Our first tree! I was thinking we could put it up for my Project For Awesome video,” he goes on, looking to Dan for approval.

“That’s a pretty good idea,” Dan agrees nonchalantly. “Low effort, can’t complain about that.” Phil deflates exaggeratedly at Dan’s apparent lack of enthusiasm - a lack Dan is certain Phil can see right through - so Dan gives into the smile that had been twitching at the corners of his mouth. “Our first tree,” he says quietly, stepping up to Phil’s side and putting an arm around him as they both look down at it together.

Phil turns to Dan, pulls him in for a brief kiss. “I couldn’t carry decorations too, and I thought maybe we could buy some together?” Phil suggests, eyes wide.

“You don’t need to ask twice,” Dan grins. “We could go now, actually?” He’s never going to read through these notes before his lecture tomorrow, might as well find something else productive to do.

“You done with those notes?” Phil asks.

“Yeah,” Dan agrees - it’s true, even not quite in the way Phil means it. “Ready to get to work on starting our Christmas,” he grins at Phil, before he can ask after anything more.

It works better than Dan could ever have hoped, Phil’s face just about exploding with a smile at the phrase ‘our Christmas’. He’s filled with so much enthusiasm that he almost gets Dan out of the flat without either a coat or shoes, Dan’s law notes lying long forgotten.

~~~

Dan wakes slowly that Saturday morning, nestling back into the warmth of Phil behind him.

“Morning,” Phil says lowly.

Dan rolls over, looks up at Phil where he’s propped up by pillows, leaning against the headboard scrolling through his phone.

“Morning,” he returns, having to clear his throat to get the word out.

“Coffee?” Phil offers, but Dan shakes his head, shifting so he can rest his head against Phil’s side.

“Sleep,” he decides, instead.

“It’s 10am,” Phil points out.

“We were awake until two,” Dan returns, slinging an arm over Phil’s hips and nestling in.

“That’s eight hours of sleep,” Phil’s voice is rich with amusement as his hand comes down to stroke through Dan’s hair.

“Sleep,” Dan repeats, stubbornly, closing his eyes.

“Yeah, okay,” Phil agrees, voice softening even further.

Dan whines in his throat as Phil leans away to put his phone on the floor, then hums contentedly when he shifts back down the bed, joins Dan in lying down.

“Sleep?” Dan checks, opening his eyes again.

“Sleep,” Phil agrees - but he leans in for a kiss before Dan can fully settle himself in for a nap. Dan settles himself into the kiss, instead, readily returning the morning affection. It’s slow, and soft, and as warm as Dan feels in the cocoon of their blankets. Phil pulls away reluctantly, lingering, returning for just another brush of lips time and time again. 

“I could be persuaded into sex, rather than sleep,” Dan decides, about the fifth time Phil has failed to pull away.

“Persuaded?” Phil pulls a face. “Sounds to me like it’s your idea.”

“Look, do you want a blow job or not?” Dan asks.

Phil wisely stops talking in favour of yet another kiss.

~~~

“Dan! That's not revision!” 

Phil sounds exasperated but frankly Dan doesn't know why he's surprised - Dan hadn't been revising when he left the room either.

“I just did the whole first edit of that video in my room so I wouldn't distract you, and it still didn't work!”

Dan checks the time - it's been two hours. Okay, maybe he understands better where Phil's coming from now. Still, it's hardly surprising, not to Dan and it shouldn’t be to Phil either, not if he knows him. So Dan just shrugs. He feels mildly guilty about Phil exiling himself to his own room, but only mildly - it had been Phil's choice after all. Dan hadn't promised that Phil leaving him would mean he'd actually start working, only that it would be less distracting. He knows better than to promise something so definitely when it comes to himself and work.

“Why haven't you started revising?” Phil demands, an edge growing in his voice.

Dan shrugs, again, despite knowing it's the wrong thing to do. “It’s boring,” he lets himself whine. “Law is boring and hard and I hate it.”

“Then why are you studying it?” Phil asks, his tone having softened slightly into laughter with Dan's exaggerated whining.

Dan gives that question all the attention he can bear, which is about a milliseconds worth. “It'll get better,” he dismisses. “First year's just shit.”

“That doesn't mean you don’t need to put in the work,” Phil reminds him.

It's a conversation they've had before, far more than once, Phil not really understanding Dan's lack of motivation given that he'd studied something he actually liked, the lucky bastard. Of course, sometimes even Dan doesn't understand his own lack of motivation, the way his whole mind and body will sometimes scream out for him to work and he just - won’t. But they normally have these conversations after Dan's wasted an afternoon at Phil's not working, just in advance of him going back to his uni room to - apparently - actually get on with something productive for his evening. Dan thinks this is the first time Phil has seen that that doesn't necessarily always happen.

“Yes it does, because I only need to 40% to pass,” Dan points out. “Nothing over that counts, so really, that’s what I should be aiming for - no wasted effort.”

“Well there’s definitely no danger of that,” Phil mutters to himself, shaking his head.

Dan feels a sting at that. “Hey!” he protests. “It’s Christmas!”

“It is Christmas,” Phil concedes, looking a bit guilty - as he should, Dan thinks. “But you did _say_ you wanted to revise.”

“Well, I’ve decided I’m taking Christmas off,” Dan declares. “I’ll start again in the New Year, when my mind’s all rested.”

Phil hums - he looks sceptical, but still too guilty to press his point. “That’s not a bad plan,” he agrees. “And you’ll have me to get on your case and make sure you do,” he adds, lighthearted this time.

“I guess I will,” Dan agrees, letting the discussion go. 

There must be something wrong with Dan because he finds himself kind of liking the idea of Phil watching over him. How little uni work Dan does isn’t exactly something he’s _hidden_ from Phil, but it’s not something he’s made abundantly clear either. Living together full time for a month - or most of a month, Christmas aside - is going to make everything very clear. It’s taken only a few days for that to turn into half an argument, will probably take no time at all for it to explode in the new year, as Dan gets closer to exams and sinks into the whirlpool of stress that goes with them, but - he doesn’t hate the idea. He doesn’t hate the loss of this secret, not one bit. It’s probably stupid to hope that maybe Phil knowing, his presence holding Dan accountable, will be what pushes Dan to finally start working. Even knowing that, it’s about the only hope Dan has, and he’ll take it. If Phil can’t make him work maybe he can help him calm down when he can’t work, and even that would be far better than nothing.

~~~

“So - when are you going home?” Dan asks, settling next to Phil on the sofa.

“When are you going home?” Phil replies - not an answer.

Dan pulls a face. “I don’t think I can get away with any later than Christmas Eve.” 

“I’ll go back on Christmas Eve too, then,” Phil tells him. “Or maybe the 23rd - you could come up for the afternoon, catch the train back the next morning?”

“Shouldn’t you ask your mum?” Dan asks.

Phil waves a dismissive hand. “She’s been bugging me about when I’m coming back home, I _think_ she’ll take the trade of spending an afternoon with you to get me home earlier. I mean, it’s a close one,” he goes on. “I think we all know how much she hates seeing you, never invites you up -” Phil leans away as Dan starts to pummel his side “- but, you know, I think she’ll stick it out for the sake of having her favourite son home.”

“Her favourite son?” Dan demands, not letting up the - light - punching. “I’ll be telling Martyn about that, don’t think I won’t!”

“He knows!” Phil insists, giving up trying to shield himself in favour of batting Dan’s hands away. “Everyone knows, that’s a rubbish threat!”

Phil manages to get a grip of one of Dan’s fists, loses it instantly when Dan switches to poking with his remaining hand, jamming his fingers in between Phil’s ribs.

“No!” Phil squeals, bucking away. “No no no, stop, I surrender!”

Dan presses his advantage, leans in until Phil topples onto his back. “You surrender?” he asks, looming over Phil, shifting to straddle his waist.

“I surrender!” Phil repeats. “You can do whatever you want to me, please!”

“Hmm,” Dan hums thoughtfully. “I can think of a thing or two,” he decides, leaning into capture Phil’s mouth with his.

~~~

“Hey, d’you want me to put a wash on?” Dan asks, distracting Phil from whatever YouTube vortex of cute animal videos he’s got himself into this time - as far as Dan can tell from where he’s standing it seems to be baby tigers, a strong choice.

“We’re going home in less than a week,” Phil answers, sounding confused.

“Yes, and we want our parents to think we are function human beings who don’t need them, and have been taking care of ourselves perfectly well this whole term, so - do you want me to put a wash on?” Dan repeats.

Phil blinks at Dan, still looking confused by the whole idea. 

Dan just rolls his eyes. He knows Phil _can_ do his own washing, but it’s not like he’s missed the way his laundry basket seems to fill up every two weeks or so, conveniently timed with when Phil returns to his parents’ to visit. “I’m doing mine anyway,” Dan tells Phil, turning away. “It’s literally going to be harder for me not to put yours in, unless you really mind.”

“Not at all!” Phil hurries to assure him. “Please do my household chores for me, please!”

Dan extends his middle finger behind him as he exits the room, but by the time he’s returned with Phil’s washing basket he’s kind of thoughtful.

“I mean, I might as well,” Dan points out, continuing their conversation as he dumps the washing onto the floor to separate it into colours and whites - he’d decided it was definitely not a waste of time after seeing the results of one of his uni flatmate’s first load.

“Huh?” Phil looks up from where he’s returned to his YouTube vortex, clearly not having followed.

“Do your washing - I might as well,” Dan repeats. “Next term, I mean. I’m doing all of mine here, and I don’t always have a full load, I might as well chuck yours in as well. Make up for how much of your energy and hot water I’m using,” he jokes.

Phil pulls a face. “You don’t have to do that! And you buy us food half the time anyway.”

“Only because we have take away half the time, and I only pay for half of that,” Dan rebutts. “It’s really no extra effort, and especially given that you let me take over half of your flat.” 

Dan isn’t really sure why he’s insisting on gaining a chore, just knows there’s a part of him that kind of _wants_ to do their laundry together, that gets a little thrill every time a pair of Phil’s socks turn out with his, or a shirt they’ve long since forgotten the owner of. It’s not just the novelty of the domesticity of it, either - he wants to give something back to this household, if they’re calling this a trial for next year. Phil’s paying all the rent, but that’s not what bothers Dan, thought he might have expected it to. It’s the other things, ways of taking care of a house like grocery shopping and cleaning, the kind of mundane chores that Phil normally takes care of when Dan is at uni and not doing uni work. Dan wants to be full part of the household, and laundry is exactly the kind of mundane, unenjoyable chore that would really let him feel like part of things.

But Phil’s still shaking his head. “You don’t need to give me anything back for that,” he claims. “I _want_ you here - you being here makes up for all the internet use.”

“Me being here makes up for me being here?” Dan asks. “Do you really think that argument works? I’m not sure it works.”

Phil glares mildly. “I always bring my washing home, anyway, it’s what my parents expect.”

“But you’re living with me now, properly, for this month - I know you told your mum about it - and you don’t have to. I... I want to do this, actually,” Dan says, can’t quite find the words to explain further.

Phil sighs, long suffering. “Well, if you _really_ want to show what a good boyfriend you are, I guess I can’t stop you. But you don’t have to," he insists on clarifying. "It’s not payment, or exchange, or anything.”

“It can be exchange. That’s just - living together, just part of a relationship.” Dan points out. “Like you pay for one meal, I pay for the next. But fine, yeah - it’s not payment.”

“Okay,” Phil agrees, turning back to his animal videos now that seem settled.

Dan turns the machine on and settles down next to Phil on the sofa, smiling when Phil automatically puts an arm around him and kisses him on the head.

“As part of my exchange I demand cute dog videos,” Dan jokes.

“I knew there’d be something,” Phil laughs, obligingly starting the search.

~~~

Dan wakes up and something is wrong. He doesn’t know what it is, but it’s enough to make him struggle out of his haze of sleep, rather than linger in it as he sometimes likes to do. Dan pushes himself up on his elbows and looks around the room, trying to figure out what it is that’s off. It only takes him a few moments of worry before it clicks - Phil isn’t next to him. What’s wrong is that he feels a bit cold, and at the realisation Dan slumps back into the pillows with a groan. That definitely wasn’t worth waking up fully for. Really, Dan’s surprised his half-sleeping mind was so concerned by the change, given that it’s not that much over a solid week that they’ve been sleeping together every night. He supposes that most mornings he sleeps over he’s the one getting up first, for lectures, but it still feels like a step too far for his mind to have freaked out at the change. Dan knows better than to think he always understands what goes on in his mind, however, or at least he should.

Regardless of how stupid a thing it was, the adrenaline has definitely woken Dan up enough that he knows he won’t be getting back to sleep any time soon. Instead, he gets up - might as well find Phil, and probably shower too.

Dan finds Phil in the bathroom, allowing him to conclude both tasks at the same time. Multitasking is a feat of productivity Dan hasn’t achieved so early in the morning in months, and he takes a moment to feel proud of himself.

“Morning,” he greets Phil, who just grunts in reply.

Phil’s shaving, so frankly Dan’s glad he didn’t try to talk - he can only imagine how such a thing would end, and even his imaginings are filled with too much blood for this time of day.

“I’m going to have a shower,” he tells Phil.

Phil still can’t talk, but he manages to make eye contact in the mirror and waggle his eyebrows at Dan in a very speaking way nonetheless.

“You can join if you want to,” Dan shrugs, feigning nonchalance, as he turns the shower on and pushes his pajama trousers off his hips.

Phil’s all over him before Dan can even get under the water, hands skating over Dan’s skin restlessly.

“Never see you in the morning,” he murmurs, chin hooked over Dan’s shoulder, unknowingly repeats Dan’s thought from earlier. “You always run off to uni, don’t get this.”

“You probably see me in the mornings half the time I wake up here,” Dan points out practically. 

Phil grunts dismissal. “This is special,” he claims, words muffled into Dan’s neck.

Dan lets his head fall back as Phil starts working on the sensitive spot on his throat. “Okay,” he concedes. “Special.”

It doesn’t feel that way when Phil releases him a moment later, Dan stepping into the shower and reaching for the shampoo he’s kept there since before uni even began, the shampoo he bought especially to leave in Phil’s flat. It was a dream, then, that he’d get to wake up there so often, spend so much time with Phil. Now it’s being realised it feels - normal, natural, and Dan thinks that’s part of the magic, for all it sometimes makes it hard to feel it.

Phil climbs into the shower as Dan is rinsing his shampoo out, plasters himself along Dan’s back once again. “Done?” Phil murmurs into Dan’s ear, his voice a little overly heavy.

“Shower gel,” Dan says pointedly, not overly surprised when Phil reaches to grab the bottle before he can.

Massages aren’t a typical part of their routines - sex or night time or any other - but Dan can feel how Phil’s starting to get a handle on them from the way he smooths his hands over Dan’s body, digging in just slightly where the muscles feel tense, just enough to feel it. Dan lets himself relax back into Phil’s hold, arching into it when Phil’s hand comes around to caress his growing cock.

“Enjoying yourself?” Phil asks, flicking a thumb over the head.

“Mmm,” Dan hums in reply.

“Pardon?” Phil asks, backing off just slightly and turning the removed portion of his attention to Dan’s neck once more.

“Yes,” Dan huffs, bucking into Phil’s loosened grip. “Always, with you, please, Phil -” Dan’s losing words faster than he would have thought, ends up just letting out a whine when Phil releases him entirely. Phil reaches back to the shower ledge, comes up with lube.

“When did you put that in here?” Dan huffs out a laugh. Much like massages, he wouldn’t say that shower sex was a part of any regular pattern they shared.

Phil shrugs. “I was a Scout, you know,” he tells Dan. “Always best to be prepared.”

Dan’s laughing when Phil’s hands settle on his arse, laughing when a slick finger rubs over his entrance. He almost chokes on his laughter, on water, when Phil first presses in.

“Alright?” Phil checks, his free hand rubbing over Dan’s side.

“Yeah,” Dan encourages, leaning forwards to give Phil better access. “Please,” he adds, when Phil doesn’t start moving again quite quickly enough.

“Pushy,” Phil says, amused, but his main response is to press deeper, and Dan is more than happy with that.

Phil knows Dan’s body almost better than he does by now, knows just how early Dan likes to take another finger, how much stretch he likes to feel. He knows what to do with his free hand while he works, knows the places beyond the obvious to linger with his touch. He knows how to use his mouth - how to blow Dan, yes, but also how to talk to him, how to set sparks shooting through Dan’s body with just a touch of teeth to that spot on his throat.

With all of that knowledge it’s no time at all before Dan is a panting mess, leaning forwards to rest his arms on the cold tile walls, his hot face on his arms. His feet are planted wide, giving Phil the best access he can without completely changing position, the best angle to work deep, to keep pulling Dan to shreds with his focussed attention.

“Phil,” Dan pants, open mouthed, teeth scraping against his own arm as Phil hits his prostate especially well and a pulse travels through his whole body. “Close,” Dan adds, dropping an arm down to reach to where Phil has been neglecting his cock.

Phil slaps Dan’s hand away, just enough of a hint of force behind it to have Dan gasping, digging his teeth into his own arm just lightly as his body bucks forwards once more.

“Please,” Dan begs, no shame in it.

“So polite,” Phil replies. He’s trying for amused, even almost got the lightness for it, but Dan can hear in his breathing, feeling in the stutter of Phil’s hand finally tight around his cock, that he’s nowhere near as composed as he’s trying to sound.

It doesn’t take long for Dan to come, Phil’s knowledge of his dick as complete as the knowledge of the rest of his body, his hands working Dan in skillful tandem. Dan thrusts into Phil’s grip, back onto his fingers, repeating Phil’s name as he paints the bathroom tiles with his come - something he’ll think gross if they don’t remember to wash it off later. For now though, Dan prioritises turning in Phil’s hold once he’s ridden his orgasm out and Phil’s arms have raised around his body, bringing their mouths crashing together in their first kiss of the day. It’s far from co-ordinated, but Dan doesn’t think either of them particularly mind, not if the way Phil has started rutting against his hip is anything to go by.

They stand like that, bodies pressed close, wrapped together, Phil gradually working himself up, until Dan thinks he feels the water start to cool.

“Want to blow you,” he murmurs, against Phil’s lips, before pulling away to turn the shower off - they’ve tried blowjobs in the shower before, and experienced it turning cold mid-sex - neither of those are experiences Dan particularly wants to repeat.

“Yeah, sure,” Phil agrees hastily.

Dan doesn’t even bother to hide his smirk at Phil’s reaction, dropping to his knees on the shower mat he’s so glad Phil bought, for all he’d mocked the purchase at first.

“Won’t take long,” Phil tells Dan, stumbling over his words, as Dan takes him in hand and leans forwards.

Dan looks up at Phil to share his smile at this, before taking him in as far as he reasonably can straight off.

From the way Phil groans, reaching out to the wall for support, Dan can tell just how truthful he was being. The fact that just fingering Dan, and a little rutting, has built Phil up so far so fast is something Dan thinks will never stop turning him on - not that he can do anything about it, now. Nothing besides putting his whole body into pleasuring Phil, that is. However much Phil has learnt about Dan’s body Dan has put at least as much effort into learning in return, and he puts all of it into practice now, keeping up the steady rhythm he knows Phil likes, looking up at him to see the evidence in practice of just how much he likes that.

Phil can’t last much more than a couple of minutes, at the end of it, swaying back into the wall beside him for support at he comes, Dan pumping him through it.

“You’ve got my come all over your side now,” Dan points out, after a couple of moments to let the afterglow settle. “Gross.”

Phil snorts out a laugh. “Had your come much worse places than that,” he points out, but smiles his thanks when Dan hands him a flannel to clean himself off with.

“Good morning,” Dan smiles, when Phil hands him the flannel back to rinse.

“Good morning,” Phil agrees, laughing, as he climbs out of the shower. He covers the distance to Dan in a single step, drags him in for a lingering kiss. “Love you,” he reminds Dan, for no particular reason that Dan can see.

“Love you,” Dan echoes, tugging Phil into a hug and swaying the two of them together for a moment. “But it’s cold,” he sighs, releasing Phil and turning to take a towel for himself, passing Phil the first of his customary three.

By the time they’re dry enough to head back to Phil’s room and find clothes they’re bickering amiably about Phil’s towel habits, so when Dan reaches for the straighteners as soon as he gets into Phil’s room it’s more out of habit than anything. He’s just showered, therefore: time to straighten his hair. He’s not expecting Phil’s hand on his wrist, holding him back.

“Leave it,” Phil requests.

“Why?” Dan laughs self consciously, freeing himself from Phil’s grip. “It looks hideous.”

“It doesn’t!” Phil protests, reaching up to ruffle Dan’s tragic hobbit hair, seemingly unbothered when Dan ducks away. “I love your hobbit curls, you know I do.”

“I know you say you do,” Dan returns, squinting suspiciously.

Phil refrains from rolling his eyes, but Dan can still spot that he wanted to.

“They’re gorgeous,” Phil insists. “And besides, we’re not going anywhere today. Leave them, for once. It’ll be better for your hair!" When Dan appears unconvinced by this, Phil goes on. "Weren’t we going to do presents today, to keep it seperate from the lot at mum and dad’s? Do it as a Christmas present, for me.”

Dan hesitates for a moment, before shrugging and turning away from Phil’s straighteners. “If it really means that much to you,” he concedes.

Dan hears Phil bounding over before he feels himself get wrapped up in a fierce embrace, feels Phil pepper kisses down the side of his face. 

“Alright alright, get off me,” Dan laughs - betraying his words in the way he only turns in Phil’s arms when he obligingly loosens his hold. Dan takes his own hold of Phil’s waist, leaning up for a kiss before something occurs to him. “Hey, if leaving my hair is your Christmas present, does that mean I get to keep the others?”

~~~

Dan is glad of the peace and quiet when he and Phil finally manage to retreat to Phil’s room in the evening of the 23rd. It’s not that he doesn’t love the Lesters, because he does, probably little more than he should - but they are incredibly loud. It had been a flurry of activity when he and Phil arrived, a chorus of greetings from every family member what felt like twice over, and it had never really calmed down. It hadn’t helped that the Lesters were packing to travel the next day, meaning even more hustle and bustle than the normal chaos created just by having everyone together in one room. 

“I could sleep for a thousand years,” Dan announces. He throws himself onto Phil’s bed, only narrowly missing the suitcase he’d ditched there earlier.

“Aw, did my family tire you out?” Phil asks, gently mocking. His eyes are sparkling with energy and Christmas cheer still, probably more than a little influenced by the bubbles, but also just the excitement he always feels at seeing his family again. Phil sees his family much more than Dan - which only makes sense, really, considering the extra distance Dan would have to travel - but even so Dan doesn’t expect as much excitement at his festive return tomorrow. His mum might have been on his case about when he was coming home, but Dan thinks that was probably more because she felt she should be than anything else. 

“I don’t know how you have the energy for them,” Dan moans, knowing Phil is really just as introverted as him.

Phil shrugs. “I might feel it later, but for now - it’s Christmas, and it’s family. Of course I have energy for them.”

Dan can’t respond to that, can’t relate to it. If anything his family probably tire him out more than other people, especially at a big event like Christmas. He’ll have fun, going home to them, he’s sure he will, but he’s equally sure that by the time he’s back home afterwards he’ll be wanting to sleep for a week. 

“Also - presents!” Phil adds, seeming to notice Dan’s lack of response.

“You didn’t even get any!” Dan exclaims. 

Dan had received his presents from the Lesters that day, he and Phil having done theirs the day before to spread the celebration out as long as possible - Phil’s idea, of course. 

“No, but _you_ did.”

“Don’t say that like it makes sense,” Dan warns. “Thanks for the rescue on that, by the way,” he adds, having not had a chance to say so earlier. He and Phil had bought family presents together this year, and Dan had initially felt awkward about not having anything to give back. Luckily Phil had managed to sneak upstairs to bring down the smaller presents that they’d hidden away in their room, and Dan hadn’t looked like a terrible guest for too long.

Phil waves the thanks away, then moves the suitcase to allow himself to flop next to Dan on the bed.

“Hi,” Dan says, turning his head towards Phil.

“Hi,” Phil returns, knocking their knees together.

“You had a good day?” Dan asks softly.

“Yeah,” Phil replies. “You?”

“Yeah,” Dan confirms. “I love your family.”

“I love them too,” Phil agrees. “And they love you,” he reminds Dan, nudging his side with an elbow. “My mum was so happy when I said you’d be coming, and you know how Martyn loves to wind you up.”

“I know,” Dan agrees with an eyeroll. He suspects it does little to hide the happy blush Phil’s reminder had caused, but thinks it worth a shot.

Phil sighs contentedly, and the two of them lay there for a long moment.

Dan feels his eyelids grow heavy and allows them to close, allows himself to drift towards sleep.

“No!” comes the sudden rude interruption from Phil, coupled with a rather less gentle nudge to his ribs. “Up, now, you’re not falling asleep like this, I’m not waking you up to deal with you being grumpy in half an hour’s time.”

Dan groans. “You’d rather I was grumpy now?” he asks.

“Yes,” Phil insists, still poking despite Dan’s attempts to roll away. “Yes, I would, get up, get changed, get under the covers, then you can sleep.”

“Ugh,” Dan huffs. “ _Fine_.”

Once he’s up Dan does appreciate not being allowed to drop off. He doesn’t think he would have much enjoyed searching through his bag for the pajamas he has - of course - buried right at the bottom if he were actually half a sleep, rather than the solid 10% he's functioning at now. As it is, by the time he’s finished up in the bathroom he’s more than ready to drop off again, barely opening his eyes in acknowledgement when Phil settles in next to him. He responds a bit better when Phil tucks an arm over his waist, pressing blindly forwards into the contact.

“Remember last Christmas?” Phil asks quietly.

“Yeah,” Dan replies, opening his eyes to find Phil startlingly close. “It was just like this,” he realises. “The week before together - a bit different, this year - but then: evening of the 23rd at yours, travelling on the 24th - it’s all the same.”

“Yeah,” Phil agrees, smiling at how easily Dan had made the connection. ”I could get used to a tradition like this.”

Dan nods his head, slipping closer to Phil on the pillow with the movement. “Yeah,” he mirrors Phil’s smile. “Same again next year?”

“Bit different on the first week, again, if we've got a new place,” Phil points out. “But - yeah, same again. No complaints from me.”

“I’m not doing a different place every year,” Dan protests, tempered by a quiet laugh. “But other than that - no complaints at all.”

“I love you,” Phil murmurs, tipping his head forwards so that their foreheads rest together.

“Love you too,” Dan says, following Phil’s lead in closing his eyes.

Dan takes Phil’s hand on the mattress and that’s how they sleep, Buffy watching over them as their own guardian angel, a mirror of last year and - hopefully - so many more to come.

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found on [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/nymeriahale) and [tumblr](http://nymeriahale.tumblr.com), I hope you all enjoyed, and please allow me to wish you all a slightly early Happy New Year!
> 
> Finally another reminder that this fic was written for [Fandom Trumps Hate](http://https://fandomtrumpshate.tumblr.com/), for which this year's sign ups open in just over a week's time!


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